Ink supplying device

Abstract

An ink package has a shape restoring ability and is made of a laminated structure film material in which multiple film sheets of polyethylene or similar material are laminated. Therefore, the ink supplying pressure for ink supplied to the print head is kept at a negative pressure. Since the ink extracting member is formed into a needle-like hollow body, the member can be easily stuck into a recess formed at the ink package.

What is claimed is:  
     
       1. An ink supplying device for supplying ink used for printing to a print head, comprising: 
       an ink package that seals the ink, the ink package being made of a film material that has a shape restoring property that restrains the ink package from changing shape as the ink is withdrawn from the ink package so as to apply a negative pressure to the ink to be supplied to the print head; and  
       an ink extracting member that has a needle-like tip portion that can be stuck into the ink package, the ink extracting member being able to extract the ink from the ink package by sticking the needle-like tip portion into the ink package, and supply the extracted ink into the print head.  
     
     
       2. The ink supplying device according to claim  1 , wherein the ink extracting member has an outer diameter that is no larger than approximately 5 mm. 
     
     
       3. The ink supplying device according to claim  1 , wherein the ink package has a laminated structure in which a plurality of film sheets that are formed of polyethylene resin are laminated. 
     
     
       4. The ink supplying device according to claim  3 , wherein the film material forming the ink package has a thickness from approximately 30 μm to 300 μm. 
     
     
       5. The ink supplying device according to claim  3 , wherein the ink package has an ink sealing portion that seals the ink, and a longitudinal length of the ink sealing portion is approximately two times or less as long as a lateral length of the ink sealing portion. 
     
     
       6. The ink supplying device according to claim  3 , wherein the ink package has an ink sealing portion that seals the ink, and at least one of a longitudinal length and a lateral length of the ink sealing portion is approximately 100 mm or less. 
     
     
       7. The ink supplying device according to claim  3 , wherein the ink package has an ink sealing portion that seals the ink, and at least a portion of an exterior surface of the ink sealing portion is formed into at least one of substantially a plane shape and substantially a concave shape. 
     
     
       8. The ink supplying device according to claim  7 , wherein both sides of the film material are melt-joined, whereby the portion of the exterior surface of the ink sealing portion that is formed into at least one of substantially the plane shape and substantially a concave shape is made on the face crossing both of the melt-joined sides. 
     
     
       9. The ink supplying device according to claim  3 , wherein the ink package includes a deformation restraining member fitted to the ink package to restrain the deformation of the ink package. 
     
     
       10. An ink supplying device for supplying ink used for printing to a print head, comprising: 
       an ink package that supplies the ink for printing to the print head, the ink package including an upper package and a lower package disposed below the upper package to seal the ink, the upper package having a shape-restoring ability that restrains the ink package from changing shape as the ink is withdrawn from the ink package so as to apply a negative pressure to the ink to be supplied to the print head; and  
       an ink extracting member that includes a needle-like tip portion that can be stuck into the ink package, the ink extracting member being able to extract the ink from the ink package by sticking the needle-like tip portion into the ink package, and supply the extracted ink into the print head.  
     
     
       11. The ink supplying device according to claim  10 , further including an ink cartridge that defines a penetrating hole, the penetrating hole being defined at a position corresponding to the ink extracting member. 
     
     
       12. The ink supplying device according to claim  10 , wherein the upper package and the lower package are made of a film material having the shape restoring ability, and 
       the shape-restoring ability of the film material that forms the upper package is larger than the shape-restoring ability of the film material that forms the lower package.  
     
     
       13. The ink supplying device according to claim  10 , wherein the ink package includes a deformation restraining member that is fitted to at least one of the upper package and the lower package to restrain the deformation of the ink package, the other of the upper package and the lower package being made of a film material having the shape-restoring ability, and 
       the film material that forms at least one of the upper package and the deformation restraining member fitted to the upper package is more rigid than the deformation restraining member fitted to at least one of the lower package and the film material that forms the lower package.  
     
     
       14. An ink package for supplying ink for printing to a printer head, comprising: 
       an ink package that is made of a film material that has a shape restoring property that restrains the ink package from changing shape as the ink is withdrawn from the ink package so as to apply a negative pressure to the ink to be supplied to the printer head.  
     
     
       15. The ink package according to claim  14 , wherein the ink package has a laminated structure in which a plurality of film sheets that are formed of polyethylene resin are laminated. 
     
     
       16. The ink package according to claim  15 , wherein the film material forming the ink package has a thickness of approximately 30 μm to 300 μm. 
     
     
       17. The ink package according to claim  15 , wherein the ink package has an ink sealing portion that seals the ink, and a longitudinal length of the ink sealing portion is approximately two times or less as long as a lateral length of the ink sealing portion. 
     
     
       18. The ink package according to claim  15 , wherein the ink package has an ink sealing portion that seals the ink, and at least one of a longitudinal length and a lateral length of the ink sealing portion is approximately 100 mm or less. 
     
     
       19. The ink package according to claim  15 , wherein the ink package has an ink sealing portion that seals the ink, and at least a portion of an exterior surface of the ink sealing portion is formed into at least one of a substantially plane shape and a substantially concave shape. 
     
     
       20. The ink package according to claim  19 , wherein both sides of the film material are melt-joined, whereby the portion of the exterior surface of the ink sealing portion that is formed into at least one of a substantially plane shape and a substantially concave shape is made on a face crossing both of the melt-joined sides. 
     
     
       21. The ink package according to claim  15 , wherein the ink package includes a deformation restraining member fitted to the ink package to restrain the deformation of the ink package. 
     
     
       22. An ink package system for supplying ink for printing to a printer head, comprising: 
       an upper package made of a film material having a shape restoring ability that restrains the upper package from changing shape as the ink is withdrawn from the upper package so as to apply a negative pressure to the ink to be supplied to the printer head; and  
       the film material a lower package which is disposed below the upper package so as to seal the ink.  
     
     
       23. The ink package system according to claim  22 , wherein the upper package and the lower package are made of a film material having the shape restoring ability, and 
       the shape-restoring ability of the film material that forms the upper package is larger than the shape-restoring ability of the film material that forms the lower package.  
     
     
       24. The ink package system according to claim  22 , wherein the ink package includes a deformation restraining member that is fitted to at least one of the upper package and the lower package to restrain the deformation of the at least one of the upper package and the lower package, the other of the at least one of the upper package and the lower package being made of the film material having the shape-restoring ability; and 
       the film material for forming at least one of the upper package and the deformation restraining member fitted to the upper package being more rigid than the deformation restraining member fitted to at least one of the lower package and the film material that form the lower package.  
     
     
       25. An ink cartridge for use with ink to be supplied to a print head, comprising: 
       an ink package made of a film material that has a shape restoring property that restrains the ink package from changing shape as the ink is withdrawn from the ink package so as to apply a negative pressure to the ink to be supplied to the print head;  
       a cartridge case housing the ink package, the cartridge case being made of a rigid material, and defining a penetrating hole; and  
       a sealing member that covers the penetrating hole and maintains the cartridge case as airtight.  
     
     
       26. The ink cartridge according to claim  25 , wherein the ink package has a laminated structure in which a plurality of film sheets that are formed of polyethylene resin are laminated. 
     
     
       27. The ink cartridge according to claim  26 , wherein the film material that forms the ink cartridge has a thickness of approximately 30 μm to 300 μm. 
     
     
       28. The ink cartridge according to claim  26 , wherein the ink package has an ink sealing portion for sealing up the ink, and a longitudinal length of the ink sealing portion is about two or less times as long as a lateral length thereof. 
     
     
       29. The ink cartridge according to claim  26 , wherein the ink package has an ink sealing portion that seals the ink, and at least one of a longitudinal length and a lateral length of the ink sealing portion is approximately 100 mm or less. 
     
     
       30. The ink cartridge according to claim  26 , wherein the ink package has an ink sealing portion that seals the ink, and at least a portion of an exterior surface of the ink sealing portion is formed into at least one of a substantially plane shape and a substantially concave shape. 
     
     
       31. The ink cartridge according to claim  30 , wherein both sides of the film material are melt-joined, whereby the portion of the exterior surface of the ink sealing portion formed into at least one of substantially a plane shape and substantially a concave shape is made on a face crossing both of the melt-joined sides. 
     
     
       32. The ink cartridge according to claim  26 , wherein the ink package includes a deformation restraining member fitted to the ink package to restrain the deformation of the ink package.